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bop-42

bop-42 March 14, 2025, 10:28 p.m.

Programmers vs AI coding tools - who actually writes better code and will we still have jobs in 5 years?

Been a backend dev for 8 years and suddenly feeling like my career has expiration date with all this AI hype. Can't browse LinkedIn without seeing another "AI replaces programmer" article or someone showing off what Copilot/Claude/ChatGPT wrote for them.

Some specific questions bothering me:

• Are AI tools genuinely creating good, maintainable code or just impressive-looking snippets?

• Which programming roles most at risk vs which are "AI-proof"?

• Are bootcamps/CS degrees still worth it if entry-level jobs disappear?

• What skills should we focus on now to stay relevant in 5 years?

• Anyone actually seen significant productivity increases beyond simple tasks?

Not looking for reassurance - want brutal honesty from people actually working with these tools daily. Senior devs, juniors, hiring managers - all perspectives welcome.

gold2000

gold2000 March 15, 2025, 12:46 a.m.

Just finished 6mo evaluation of copilot integration, across 280 engineers. Productivity metrics all over place - seniors 22% boost on avg, juniors basically writing unmaintainable garbage faster. Tool amplifies existing skill gap rather than closing it

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swet

swet March 15, 2025, 5:03 p.m.

The whole "AI code will replace programmers" premise fundamentally misunderstands software engineering. Writing code = maybe 30% of job. Rest = figuring out WHAT to build + complex biz requirements + debugging production issues + navigating team dynamics. Tools augment but can't replace

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MQRobert

MQRobert March 16, 2025, 10:07 p.m.

What's scary is watching new devs paste AI solutions they don't understand into production. Ask them to explain their implementation? Blank stares. Try debugging without AI? complete panic. This generation never learned how to reason through logic problems from scratch

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Dekas76

Dekas76 March 17, 2025, 10:14 a.m.

started adding "no-assistance" sections to our interviews after several hires couldn't solve simple problems without their AI crutch. painful but necessary reality check

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eminem78

eminem78 March 17, 2025, 9:44 p.m.

AI already killed my first dev job. startup CTO realized he could get by with 2 senior devs + copilot instead of 2 seniors + 4 junior/mid level devs like they had before. Layoffs came fast. 9 months later company imploded because seniors couldn't maintain everything but managers didn't learn lesson

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u73p12

u73p12 March 18, 2025, 7:09 p.m.

Current impact vastly overhyped, long-term impact vastly underestimated. Right now it's fancy autocomplete, but in 5 years? Different story. adapt or become obsolete–harsh but reality

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rhfcbrj

rhfcbrj March 19, 2025, 11:17 p.m.

Roles that require managing extensive technical debt and understanding legacy codebases remain largely immune to AI replacement. Contrast that with greenfield development following established patterns where AI tools shine brightest

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001100

001100 March 21, 2025, 8:47 p.m.

ppl acting like we haven't been through this before? every tech advance supposedly "ending programming" - low-code platforms, outsourcing, drag-drop builders, code generators... yet dev jobs keep growing. tools change, fundamentals don't

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3stan

3stan March 22, 2025, 12:03 p.m.

Quit enterprise job to freelance assuming AI would help me handle more clients. Reality check: spend MORE time fixing hallucinated edge cases and security holes than if I'd just written everything myself. Might work great for trivial tasks tho

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Fk`yxbr

Fk`yxbr March 23, 2025, 1:01 a.m.

oh god the security holes... had client deploy AI-generated auth layer without review... compromised within DAYS... still cleaning up that mess 3 months later

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